Arts, Briefly; The Un-Disinvited

By JULIE SALAMON; Compiled by Lawrence Van Gelder

Published: February 4, 2005

The ''Buster'' saga continues.

The federal Department of Education has rescinded -- and then reinstated -- an invitation to Carol Greenwald, an executive producer of children's show ''Postcards From Buster,'' to speak at a children's television conference the department is sponsoring with PBS through Saturday. The initial about-face came the same week that Education Secretary Margaret Spellings complained to PBS about an episode that featured a lesbian couple. PBS decided not to distribute the episode to member stations, though officials said they made that decision before receiving Ms. Spelling's criticisms, which included a threat to stop financial support for the program. Now Ms. Greenwald is back on the panel. ''Carol was originally invited by the Department of Education to be on a panel Friday morning on the topic of children and media,'' said a spokeswoman for WGBH-TV, producer of the ''Buster'' series. ''Last week she received a phone call that she would no longer be a panelist. This morning, when she arrived at the conference, the Department of Education said there was a misunderstanding and she would be on the panel.'' JULIE SALAMON